Outbreak of the Korean War

• Korea had been ruled by Japan until 1945. When the war ended, the North remained communist and the South became anti-communist
• By September 1950, North Korean troops had pushed the South back to a little corner in the south-east.
• Hostility between the North's communist leader, Kim Il Sung, and the South's democratically elected leader, Syngman Rhee, led to war.